Living the high life in Lehighton

Man's adventures take him to Russia, the stage and into the air via 'UFO'

A typical conversation with Bobby Sparks includes references to UFOs, the Soviet Union, and a jungle in the Amazon.

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By STACY M. BROWN

poconorecord.com

By STACY M. BROWN

Posted May. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By STACY M. BROWN
Posted May. 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

A typical conversation with Bobby Sparks includes references to UFOs, the Soviet Union, and a jungle in the Amazon.

The Lehighton resident isn't delusional, as it is documented that he spent several years in Russia when the country was under Soviet rule and, yes, he did travel to the Amazon to help cut a road in the jungle.

"I went to Russia at the invitation of an Australian man I met while doing a hot-air balloon flight there, and he told me if I'd come to the Soviet Union, he'd have a lot for me to do with balloons," said Sparks, 79.

"I never thought I'd hear from him, but lo and behold, I did — and I went," he said.

In Russia, Sparks opened a balloon and parachute factory and, later, he was hired to create aviation guidelines in Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, and five other countries.

As for the UFOs, Sparks is serious about those, too.

"I'm working on this balloon that will be powered by electric motors," he said. "It will be an ellipsoidal-shaped aircraft — in other words, shaped like a UFO — and there has never been one built like it before."

Sparks said blimps, by comparison, are usually non-rigid, so his device would be the opposite. What he plans to build will include a helium compartment and a separate, channel portion with an electric motor.

The airship will be lightweight — about 250 pounds — and will accommodate two people at a time.

Sparks is hoping that the end result will allow the balloon to retain its shape once it is thrust into the air.

"Look, I am a person who friends say is homesick for places I've never been," said Sparks, who has two daughters and has been married since 1981 to his second wife, Carol. "My wife is a very understanding person, and she allows me to enjoy what I do."

The former organizer of an annual balloon festival in Allentown, Sparks holds nine world records in balloons that he has helped to design or build, and he said he is the only balloonist to have crossed the five Great Lakes.

After several years of training and preparation, Sparks began flying balloons for a living in 1973 for companies such as McDonald's and Exxon.

He has logged more than 5,000 hours and twice attempted — but failed — to become the first person to cross the Atlantic by balloon, something documented in a Sports Illustrated story in August 1973.

While his love of ballooning is evident, Sparks' first love was music, he said.

"I was the entertainment director once at Mount Airy, and I'd do shows all over the place, including in Florida, where the owner of Mount Airy saw me and asked me to come to the Poconos," Sparks said.

"We'd do some great numbers — some Art Rooney songs and others, and people loved it," he said.

For 25 years Sparks sang, danced and otherwise delighted hotel and casino guests until he fell head over heels in love, he said.

"I was at a state fair in the Midwest back in 1966, and I heard this sound from above and looked up and it was a balloon and I just fell in love with balloons at that very moment," he said. "It was that simple. If there is magic between the balloon and myself it's that every time I see a balloon, I get the same feeling I got back in 1966."

Sparks has flown balloons in 37 countries. He's flown in every state in the union except Hawaii, which he may be saving so that he could experience that in his UFO creation.

"When a person loses a dream or a desire to do something wonderful, you can just sit around and wait to die," Sparks said. "That, I cannot do. I may die soon, but if I live to be 130, that would still be too soon to die to suit me."